Aspects of Buddhism: Based on Pali Sources

DETAILS : 

• Publisher: Banaras Hindu University
  
• Author: Dr. H.S. Shukla
  
• Language: English
  
• ISBN-10 : 8185305013
  
• ISBN-13 :978-8185305011
  
• Hardcover : 316 pages
  
• Weight : 750 g 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Aspects of Buddhism: Based on Pali Sources is a rigorous textual and philosophical anthology published in 2001 by Banaras Hindu University. The title contains a slight nuance regarding its authorship: the volume is a curated compilation of twenty-one profound seminar papers and essays written by the legendary late Buddhist scholar Prof. Mahesh Tiwary, which was posthumously compiled, structured, and edited by his close academic colleague Dr. Hari Shankar Shukla (Dr. H.S. Shukla).

The core objective of the book is to provide a highly authentic, systematic investigation into early Theravada Buddhism by drawing directly and exclusively from the primary unadulterated layers of the Pali Tipitaka and its subsequent Abhidhammic commentaries. Rather than offering a generalized historical overview, the essays dive straight into the dense physico-psycho-ethical frameworks that distinguish Buddhist thought from other classical Indian systems. The text explores the chronological biography of the Buddha, tracing his life from his initial descent into his mother's womb to his final Mahaparinibbana, with a heavy emphasis on the exact meditative insights he realized under the Bodhi tree.

A significant portion of the book is dedicated to structural Abhidhamma philosophy, detailing the intricate classifications of the four basic material elements (Bhuta-rupa) and the twenty-four derived material phenomena (Upada-rupa). Dr. Shukla systematically arranges Prof. Tiwary's deep expositions on the Buddhist path of purification, demonstrating how the triad of Sila (moral conduct), Samadhi (meditative absorption), and Panna (transcendental wisdom) works as a clinical psychological process to eliminate mental defilements. The volume also contains vital essays analyzing the economic, social, and political principles found within early Pali literature, highlighting the Brahmaviharas—friendliness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity—as the foundational blueprints for establishing a congenial, non-violent social and global order.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Professor Mahesh Tiwary (the Author) was one of twentieth-century India's most revered titans of Pali literature and Theravada Buddhism. He served for decades as a distinguished professor of Buddhist Studies at both the University of Delhi and Banaras Hindu University. Globally respected for internalizing the very Dhamma he taught, his character was famously marked by the classical Buddhist virtues of profound childlike simplicity, immense compassion, and an absence of scholastic snobbery. His sudden passing came as a shock to the international academic community, leaving behind a monumental legacy of critical editions and translations that bridged raw text with living spiritual practice.

Dr. Hari Shankar Shukla (the Editor) is a highly accomplished professor, author, and the former Coordinator of the Centre for Buddhist Studies within the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. Appointed as a lecturer in Pali in 1979 alongside other stalwarts of the field, Dr. Shukla has spent nearly five decades spearheading advanced research in early Theravada epistemology and Abhidhammic psychology. His meticulous editorial curation of Prof. Tiwary's scattered manuscripts ensured that these highly specialized seminar papers were preserved as a cohesive, permanent reference textbook for generations of global Indologists.